“Jordan belongs to
the Jordanians and Palestine to the Palestinians,” Mashaal said in a message
aimed at reassuring Abdullah that Hamas does not challenge his
monarchy.

Mashaal said he also affirmed during the meeting with the king
Hamas’s keenness on safeguarding Jordan’s security and stability.

Hamas
officials described Mashaal’s talks with Abdullah as positive and expressed hope
the two sides would open a new page in their relations.

This was the
first meeting of its kind between the two since the Jordanian authorities
expelled Mashaal and other Hamas leaders from the kingdom in
1999.

Mashaal’s visit to Jordan was supposed to last three days. However,
Hamas officials announced after the meeting that Mashaal would leave Jordan
Sunday. The officials did not offer any explanation why the visit had been cut
short.

Ezat Risheq, a top Hamas official who accompanied Mashaal,
described the talks as “extremely positive and excellent.” Risheq said the two
sides agreed to hold more meetings in the future.

Mashaal arrived in
Amman together with Qatar’s crown prince, Tamim bin Hamad al Thani, who attended
the meeting with the king.

Qatar, which maintains close ties with the
Hamas leadership, played a major role in facilitating Mashaal’s visit to
Jordan.

Sources in Jordan quoted Abdullah as stressing his support for
the Palestinians’ right to establish an independent Palestinian state with east
Jerusalem as its capital within the pre-1967 lines.

The king emphasized
his full support for the Palestinian Authority’s efforts to achieve a
Palestinian state, noting this was a top interest for Jordan, the sources
said.

“Internationally backed negotiations between Palestinians and
Israelis is the only way to restore Palestinian rights,” Abdullah was quoted as
telling Mashaal and the Qatari crown prince.

Sites Of Interest

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